The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

Just finished this novel, and it was wonderful. I don't always like Oprah's selections although I usually give them a try but this is one that lived up to the hype. I'm not going to spoil the ending for you but I will say that when the book jacket says it's a tragedy it means it. It really reminded me of Where the Red Fern Grows. As a former English teacher I found that it was beautifully written and yet was full of suspense. If you do decide to pick it up, I strongly recomend you start by reading the sparknotes version of Hamlet since it is loosely based on that Shakespearean play.

Go Cougs!

Yesterday we took Delaney to her first Cougar Football Game. She was all dressed up in her Cougar Cheerleader outfit ( courtesy of grammie and grandpa). We got to see my brothers new apartment and all the changes they've made to the campus. For the most part Laney was a good sport, her favorite part of the day was tailgating because she got to walk around and show off her outfit while scoping out all the doggies in the area.

In her cheerleading outfit- so cute!

With two of her new friends, I can't believe how much this kid loves dogs, these two were particulary patient with her.

The stadium...
Watching the game with Grandpa.

We had a good time but were all exhausted by the end of the day (I found out that my cougar calves have atrophied since college and almost died of exhaustion from all the walking with Laney). The Cougs had a terrible game, but we got to see some friends from California (hi Lisa and Ryan) and Laney got a good taste of her future.

Where's Delaney

Hmmm... guess we missed a cupboard when we were child proofing our house.

In The Last 12 hours...

1. Laney got the top off a bottle of infant motrin - had to call poison control.

2. We lost no less than 3 binki's in the middle of the night.

3. Laney has had her own personal pajama party beginning at 5:15.

4. At 6 am she decided that she wanted to invite her friends over for said pajama party and dialed my parents house on my cell phone.

5. She and her daddy had a head on collision resulting in 10 minutes of crying (Laney, not Ryan) and a lot of snot.

6. I have not yet had breakfast or caffiene...

...can't wait to see what the next 12 hours brings....

Cousins

At some point during the party yesterday Laney, Gracee and Papa Mike ended up out in the pasture. Laney was trying to love on her cousin but I think Gracee was trying to run away... I especially like when Laney is trying to pat Gracee on the head ( can you tell we need to spend less time around dogs and more around people?)

Gracee's 1st Birthday Party

Yesterday was our niece Gracee's 1st birthday party. We had a great time eating cake- and Delaney was happy to help Gracee break in her new toys..

Here are all of the little kids "helping" unwrap Gracee's presents... This is also the most social interaction my child has ever had- she wasn't so sure what to do with all of the other kids around.

We didn't bring Laney's stroller so she had to substitute this car and one of Gracee's dolls.

Then she decided that it was WAY more fun to push her cousin around...

Things I enjoy...

Okay- so upon rereading my previous post I realized that I may have sounded a bit bitter (okay maybe a lot bitter- in my defense I was going for witty and sardonic- and we'd had a long day) anyhoo... I thought I'd try to balance it out with a few things that bring me joy.

* DVR- I can record all the bad tv I love to watch and then, get this, fast forward through the commercials- it's heaven I tell you!

* All Memoirs Jen Lancaster- she is so funny, I highly recommend picking up one of her books, if I could write I'd want to write like that!

* My new green polka dot (it's not as ugly as it sounds) bathrobe- all fuzzy and warm, mmmm.

* Getting my hair done- especially colored, it makes me feel good no matter what.

* Barnes and Noble, shelves and shelves of books with a starbucks right in the center- 'nuff said.

* Watching my kid try to run- she pretty much just hops in place until she trips, quite entertaining!

See, now didn't that lighten the mood a little?